Judges will sentence killer in July

Kim Smith

Wednesday, June 21, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

A quadruple killer who escaped the death penalty last week when a jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision will have his fate decided in July.

Donte Johnson's second penalty hearing will be held July 24 through July 26 if the Nevada Supreme Court can find two out-of-county judges available to preside over the hearing with District Judge Jeffrey Sobel.

Prosecutors will get a second shot at obtaining the death penalty for Johnson, 23, because the jurors who convicted him of first-degree murder split 11-1 in favor of the death penalty when a unanimous vote was needed.

According to authorities, Johnson, Sikia Smith and Terrell Young went to the four victims' Terra Linda Avenue home on Aug. 14, 1998, under the mistaken assumption they would find $10,000 and a large amount of drugs there.

They duct-taped the young men, laid them on the floor and spent an hour ransacking the home, prosecutors said. Johnson then shot each one in the back of the head.

Killed were Tracey Gorringe, 20, Peter Talamantez, 17, and Jeffrey Biddle and Matt Mowen, both 19.

Smith and Young are serving no-parole life sentences after being convicted and sentenced last year by separate juries.

According to the Special Public Defender's Office, Nevada is the only state in the nation that requires judges to sentence convicted murderers after jurors fail to reach a unanimous decision.

In Colorado, jurors are dismissed after they convict capital murder defendants and a three-judge panel determines the defendants' sentence and a panel also determines their sentence in Nebraska.

Historically, the panels in Nevada have almost always sentenced the defendants to death.

Nevada Supreme Court spokesman Bill Gang said out-of-county judges that serve on such panels are chosen on a rotating basis, although judges can be excused if they have scheduling conflicts.

Sobel, who said he planned to contact the Supreme Court immediately, will give the attorneys until July 10 to file their objections to any of the three judges that will be on the panel.

Sobel pointed out that while jurors are questioned about their beliefs before they serve as jurors, the judges on the panel are not questioned.

"I can't help but be struck by where this case stands amidst the other murder cases I've handled," Sobel said. "Mr. Johnson, to me, seems to be at the far end of the continuum as far as candidates for the death penalty."